Tennis News

The Special Surprise Zverev Got After His Cologne Win

It might be a new week for Alexander Zverev in Cologne, but the home favorite continued winning on Wednesday. And after the top seed defeated Australian John Millman 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the bett1HULKS Championship, Zverev got a special surprise.

Tournament Dog Barnie strolled onto the court to congratulate Zverev during the German’s on-court interview. Barnie has kept a close eye on the action since last week’s event began.

“Now my dogs will be jealous!” Zverev said, cracking a laugh.

“In the first set I thought I played flawlessly, but then I wasn’t focussed at the beginning of the second [set] and the match could turn around,” Zverev said. “John is someone who has beaten top players before… you’ve got to play until the end and I thought I did a poor job serving today. But I got the win somehow.”

The German knew he faced a tough foe in the unrelenting Millman, who pushed him to five sets at Roland Garros last year. Zverev had to dig deep again, overcoming second-serve difficulties in the third set to triumph after one hour and 55 minutes.

The 23-year-old earned the decisive break at 2-1 in the third set, crushing an inside out forehand and yelling ‘Come on!’ as a Millman backhand sailed long. As always, the Aussie battled until the last ball, putting pressure on the German. Zverev faced three break points at 4-2, but escaped the situation to prevail. Last week, Alexander’s older brother, Mischa Zverev, beat Millman 6-1, 6-4.

“I think my brother is much better than me, so that’s why he won more easily,” Zverev said, cracking a laugh. “I think John is someone who needs rhythm himself and against a baseliner, against a hard hitter, for me the harder you hit the ball against him the better it is for him. For me, it’s not easy to play slowly, so I think my game suits him quite well.”

Zverev will next face eighth seed Adrian Mannarino, who ousted Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 18 minutes. The top seed has won all three of their previous ATP Head2Head clashes, including a four-set victory at this year’s US Open.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor, beat American Steve Johnson 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach the last eight. In first-round action, seventh seed Jan-Lennard Struff defeated Sardinia finalist Marco Cecchinato 6-3, 6-1 to set a second-round clash against Yoshihito Nishioka.

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European Open: Dan Evans beats Frances Tiafoe in Antwerp

British number one Dan Evans wins consecutive ATP Tour matches for the first time since February to reach the European Open quarter-finals.

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Humbert Upsets Carreno Busta In Antwerp; Raonic Strikes 17 Aces

France’s Ugo Humbert saved 10 of 12 break points on Wednesday to cause an upset at the European Open when he battled to beat second seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 33 minutes.

Humbert won the first three games of the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting and led 5-2 in the first set before Carreno Busta fought back. Humbert saved four breaks points at 2-3 in the decider and broke at 4-4 when Carreno Busta struck three consecutive groundstroke errors.

The World No. 38, who improved to an 18-11 match record on the season, which includes the ASB Classic title (d. Paire) in January, now plays American Taylor Fritz or qualifier Lloyd Harris of South Africa in the Antwerp quarter-finals. Humbert recorded the biggest win of his career over No. 5-ranked Daniil Medvedev at the Hamburg European Open en route to his first ATP 500 quarter-final (l. to Ruud).

Carreno Busta, who was making his debut at the ATP 250 tournament, reached the US Open semi-finals (l. to Zverev) for a second time last month. The 29-year-old is now 16-10 on the year.

Seventh seed Fritz was impressive on serve by withstanding 19 aces from fellow American Reilly Opelka in a 7-6(5), 6-1 victory over 67 minutes. Fritz lost six of his first-service points (39 of 44) and won 16 of Opelka’s 21 second-serve points.

Fifth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic recorded his fourth straight win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia for a place in the second round, where he will meet Briton Cameron Norrie.

Raonic struck 17 aces and won 40 of 44 first-service points to win 6-3, 7-6(4) in 86 minutes. Bedene, who hit 11 aces and won 31 of 36 first-service points, saved two match points from 15/40 when serving at 5-6 and Raonic bounced back from 1/3 down in the tie-break.

Raonic, who advanced to last week’s St. Petersburg Open semi-finals (l. to Coric) and his fourth ATP Masters 1000 final at the Western & Southern Open (l. to Djokovic) in August, is now 18-8 on the season. 

Fourth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov meets Pablo Andujar of Spain and another Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez, tackles eighth seed Alex de Minaur of Australia during the evening session. 

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How Sinner Is Keeping Success In Perspective During The Pandemic

Jannik Sinner is playing the best tennis of his young career, fresh off making his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros. The Italian is still able to keep things in perspective, though. While he is enjoying success on court, there are millions in the world going through tough times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It has been a tough year. Every one of us is obviously playing tennis, but the most important thing is having friends, having family,” Sinner said. “It’s a little bit of a messy year, especially in Italy. At the beginning it was very, very bad. I tried to help a little bit, obviously [it was] not that much [in the big picture]. It’s tough to see the world, how it’s going on. It’s already changing, wearing the masks, keeping distance. It’s different.”

Sinner, in conjunction with his management company, StarWing Sports, and coach, Riccardo Piatti, donated €12,500 to Cesvi, a humanitarian organisation, to aid with medical emergencies in Bergamo, he announced in April.

The ATP Tour was suspended for more than five months due to the pandemic, so Sinner is thankful to be able to compete again. Action resumed in August. On Tuesday, Sinner won his first-round match at the bett1HULKS Championship against James Duckworth.

“The ATP Tour and everyone is [doing] an incredible job making these kinds of tournaments happen. Playing without a crowd, it’s not what we want at the end of the day, but I think they are [doing] an incredible job,” Sinner said. “Huge thanks to them, but it’s tough to see what’s going on.”

Sinner, the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion, is at a career-high No. 46 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. The Italian lost against Rafael Nadal in straight sets at Roland Garros, but he impressively held his own from the baseline against the 13-time champion for most of the match.

“[It’s] just about improving day after day,” Sinner said. “Obviously it was a great test against Rafa on clay. I played well in the first and second sets and the third set he pushed more. He was playing better in the third set.”

Most 19-year-olds would be nervous to play one of the sport’s all-time greats on Court Philippe Chatrier. Beating Nadal on that court has proven as difficult as any achievement in sports. But Sinner’s mental approach proved key, and that is one of the reasons why the spotlight on him shines brighter daily.

“I felt ready playing against him,” Sinner said. “I went on court with the right attitude, which I’m trying to do every match and trying to improve day after day.”

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World No. 528 Bergs Stuns Ramos-Vinolas In Antwerp: 'Those Are Things I Live For'

World No. 528 Zizou Bergs pulled the stunner of the week on Tuesday evening at the European Open, battling past Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-5, 7-5 in his first tour-level match. To say the 21-year-old was excited would be a major understatement.

“I’m definitely a guy who loves emotions. I have amazing friends, amazing family and I’m playing at home in Belgium, in Antwerp,” Bergs said. “I just love the emotions. I love screaming it out. I love to see [the fans’] reactions. It’s just really why I want to play tennis, because I like the atmosphere… those are things that I live for. It’s the way I want to play, it’s the way I want to enjoy the games and it’s my nature, so I just love the atmosphere.”

Bergs was comfortable with his draw, despite Ramos-Vinolas having 459 more tour-level matches’ worth of experience. The Belgian felt he would have time to play his aggressive style against Ramos-Vinolas.

Although this was his first ATP Tour main draw match, he had played qualifying at the European Open on three previous occasions, facing Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Felix Auger-Aliassime. Two years ago, he had two match points against Auger-Aliassime before succumbing in a final-set tie-break.

“Today I proved that I took the experience from the past times and I just kept fighting,” Bergs said. “Eventually things turned my way. It was very nice.”

Bergs saved two set points on his serve in the second set before Ramos-Vinolas, the 2017 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters finalist, served at 5-4 to force a decider. The Belgian, who has climbed as high as World No. 386, showed no fear of the moment, crushing a forehand winner to get back on serve. He never looked back.

“I think it was a great game. I knew I could play his level. I was training really good,” Bergs said. “Sometimes I was a bit surprised when I was playing the big guys in training how good in points it was with [my] results. The belief came and I was full of confidence. Although the results lately were not what I wanted in other tournaments, but I knew the level was there and I was actually very confident I could win today.”

The home favourite will try to continue his run when he challenges third seed Karen Khachanov in the second round.

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Five Breaks & 'Feeling Great', Sinner Storms Into Second Round In Cologne

Italian #NextGenATP star Jannik Sinner wasted little time in his first-round match at the bett1HULKS Championship on Tuesday, dismissing Australian James Duckworth 6-1, 6-2 in 61 minutes.

“Not many unforced errors, I served quite well,” Sinner said on court after his win. “I’m very happy about my first match.”

One year ago this week, Sinner was still outside the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. After reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros, the 19-year-old is up to a career-high World No. 46.

The only moment of difficulty Sinner faced came in the second set at 2-2, a service game in which he needed nearly 12 minutes to hold. After getting through that game unscathed, Sinner broke in the next game when Duckworth missed a forehand volley wide. The Italian broke the Aussie’s serve five times in the match.

“I felt great on court, moving quite well,” Sinner said. “Obviously the second set there was one game when I was serving in which he pushed a little bit more the ball, so I was a little bit rushed. But I think it was a solid performance.”

Sinner will next play aggressive Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who rallied from a break down in the deciding set to eliminate American Tennys Sandgren 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours and 17 minutes. 

Top seed Alexander Zverev will face John Millman in the second round after the Aussie defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 39 minutes. Last week in Cologne, Verdasco beat former World No. 1 Andy Murray in the first round before falling against Zverev in his next match.

Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina recorded his 10th match win of the year on Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over qualifier Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 72 minutes. Last week, the 21-year-old reached the second ATP Tour semi-final of his career at the bett1HULKS Indoors (l. to Zverev), which was also held in Cologne. Davidovich Fokina now plays American Steve Johnson in the second round.

Lucky loser Oscar Otte advanced at his home event with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph against Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak.

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Nadal To Chase Record-Tying 36th Masters 1000 Title In Paris

Rafael Nadal confirmed on social media Tuesday that he will chase a record-tying 36th ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Paris Masters.

It’s indoor season time… this picture was earlier today practicing at the @rnadalacademy … And yes… getting ready for #ParisBercy ??? pic.twitter.com/SajEB4JMEW

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) October 20, 2020

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic earned a record 36th trophy at the elite level at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. But with a victory in Paris, Nadal will be able to tie that mark.

Nadal will compete at the indoor hard-court tournament, where he owns a 19-5 record, for the eighth time. The World No. 2 has made at least the quarter-finals in each of his seven previous appearances. In his 2007 debut, Nadal made the final (l. to Nalbandian).

The legendary lefty just won his 13th Roland Garros title, tying Roger Federer’s mark for most Grand Slam triumphs with 20. Nadal is 22-4 this season with two titles. The Spaniard did not lose a set en route to earning the crown in Acapulco or at Roland Garros.

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Zverev Brothers Roll At Home In Cologne

Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev lost in the first round in Cologne last week. Their second try at the same venue was the charm on Tuesday at the bett1HULKS Championship.

The Zverev brothers defeated Dominic Inglot and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-2 in 71 minutes to reach the second round. The Germans saved all three break points they faced and won 43 per cent of their return points to triumph. The unseeded duo advances to face back-to-back Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies or Spaniards Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Fernando Verdasco.

Australian Open finalists Max Purcell and Luke Saville continued their push for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals with a 7-6(3), 6-7(1), 10-7 victory against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Robert Lindstedt.

Four spots remain in the doubles field at The O2. Purcell and Saville began the week in ninth place in the FedEx ATP Battle For London.

FedEx ATP Battle For London: Doubles Standings

^{*Points entering this week’s play}

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Dan Evans ends five-match losing run with three-set win in Antwerp

British number one Dan Evans ends his five-match losing run by beating qualifier Salvatore Caruso in the European Open first round.

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Evans, Norrie Battle Into Antwerp Second Round; De Minaur Plays Gasquet Later

Britons Daniel Evans and Cameron Norrie both completed hard-fought wins on Tuesday afternoon at the European Open in Antwerp.

Evans hit nine aces to work his way past Italian qualifier Salvatore Caruso 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in one hour and 55 minutes, including a solid serving performance in the decider for his 14th match win of the season. He will next challenge American Frances Tiafoe in the second round.

Norrie recovered from 0-3 down in the second set of a 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori in one hour and 37 minutes. The World No. 70 now challenges fifth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic or Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia.

Elsewhere, Spain’s Pablo Andujar powered his way past lucky loser Federico Coria of Argentina 6-2, 6-3 in 82 minutes to set up a second-round meeting against fourth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. Coria replaced Kei Nishikori, who withdrew on-site due to a right shoulder injury.

Eighth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur will take on Richard Gasquet of France during the evening session.

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